Water2Wine
John 2:1-11
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/water2wine.html
vv. 1-2
A wedding is one of the most joyous occasions of the human experience. I’ve performed scores of weddings...including for many of you sitting here today!
When I asked Kimberly’s dad for her hand in marriage he threatened that if I went through with it he’d find a way to have me locked up in prison for 20 years. I was just thinking on Thanksgiving day this week that, if he had followed through on his threat, in just a few months...I’d be a free man!
In Bible days a wedding was a 7 day feast with plenty of food and drink. But on this day the host ran out of wine, and was about to be publicly embarrassed.
The total number of miracles recorded in all 4 gospels: 36. Only 7 of them are in John’s gospel. The reason? John selected these 7 for a specific purpose, in order to prove something to the readers.
John 20:30-31
30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
The goal of these miracles is to prove that Jesus is who He claimed to be. Does this miracle accomplish that?
v. 11 There is a message behind these miracles. Jesus didn’t change water to wine just to help out the host. [heal cripple solely to relieve his suffering / raise Lazarus to ease his sibling’s grief]
John is showing us that what Jesus can do in the physical realm of nature, He can accomplish in a greater way in the spiritual realm of the soul. It was a truly great miracle when He created the universe...but a far greater one when He created a new heart in you and me! It’s the greatest of all miracles.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Compare this first miracle of Jesus to the first miracle of Moses in Exodus, as he demanded that Pharaoh let his people go. He smote the Nile with his rod and it turned to blood. It was a miracle of judgment...Jesus’ miracle was a miracle of joy. [misery/mercy]
1:17 The law brought condemnation, and grace brings salvation.
Compare this first miracle of Jesus with His last. This first was a wedding...His last, a funeral. So in the gladdest hour of your life [wedding] you need Jesus, and in the saddest hour of your life [funeral] you need Jesus. From the beginning of life to the end we need Jesus. When we’re hatched, when we’re matched, and when we’re dispatched!
The miracle itself.
1. The Place of the Miracle.
a. A Humble Place.
v. 1 Cana is 9 miles NE of Nazareth, where Christ was from. It was a small humble place where Christ chose to work His first miracle. [like Argenta]
ill.--in NYC this week we saw lots of people, lots of concrete, buildings, and traffic. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Who would want to live there? People who want to make their mark!
ill.--when candidates announce they are running for office, they do it in a special place. 6 years ago Obama announced over in Springfield in front of the capitol building.
You’d think Jesus would work His first miracle, proving He is God, in imperial Rome, or intellectual Alexandria, or religious Jerusalem. But He chose Cana [Argenta!] And things don’t have to be BIG to be important.
Zechariah 4:10
10 For who hath despised the day of small things?
Little is much when God is in it!
Our church is considered small compared to today’s mega churches. And in NYC it would be considered large. Point is, a church is LARGE in the eyes of God if it preaches the gospel. And your service in the church doesn’t have to be big in man’s eyes to be big in the eyes of God. You may clean tables on Wed. Nite or pull weeds out front. If you do it for God’s glory He smiles on that more than a singer who tries to glorify them self.
b. A Happy Place.
v. 1 A wedding is a happy time. Jesus went to support the happy couple, and to work a miracle, not for someone who was hurting, but someone who was already happy. No one needed healing, and this water didn’t need walked on.
c. A Holy Place.
Jesus being invited to the wedding turned a humble place into a holy place! I hope Jesus has been invited to your marriage! [wedding policy here]
ill.--one pastor had a unique opening line on visitation..."Does Jesus live here?" I hope you could answer, yes!
2. The Plea of His Mother.
vv. 3-5 Running out of wine was not only a public embarrassment, but it was against the law in that culture, and could be penalized by a fine!
And so, Mary makes this plea to her son, Jesus. It’s an implied request. She wants Jesus to fix this. I don’t believe she is thinking ’miracle’ here, for He has never worked one. She is just asking Him to help. She had come to trust Him. I believe Joseph has already passed away at this point, and Jesus has been Mary’s Rock...quite literally!
Let’s spiritualize this for a moment: When we have a need in life, we should do what Mary did--turn to Jesus!
Philippians 4:19
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
In God we trust! If I could find something good in Obama’s election victory it might be that it put to death a real danger which loomed, in Christian America, of developing an attitude of ’In Romney we trust.’ Instead, many now are saying, what are we gonna do for the next four years. Here’s what I’m gonna do: In God I will trust!
When we talk about trusting God to meet our needs, we’re talking about a fountain that will never run dry...a bank that will never fail...and He that puts great care into clothing the fields of the earth and feeding the sparrows is not gonna let you and me down!
Friends may let you down, banks may fail, stock prices may plummet...but my God will supply all your needs if you look to Him!
a. Turn to Jesus for financial needs.
God has promised to meet our needs.
Psalm 37:25
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
God has promised to meet our needs...not our greeds. If we live selfishly, we may suffer lack. Giving is the opposite of selfishness, and God promises to give us back more than we can give to Him! Now, will God allow us to live in a debtor’s prison of our own making? For a time, yes, but He wants to help us out of that as well...it’s one of our needs, and he loves it when we trust in Him and look to Him to meet those needs!
God expects us to act responsibly, and just as He is concerned with the 10% He commands us to return to Him, it is just as important to our Lord how we manage the other 90% He has made us managers of. [Dave Ramsey course]
5 Financial Principles:
• Priority--putting God first.
Malachi 3:10
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
• Industry--working hard. [not hardly working]
Proverbs 20:4
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
Too many people are itching for things they aren’t willing to scratch for.
• Generosity--giving above the tithe.
Luke 6:38
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
We can handle our finances with an open hand or a clinched fist. God blesses the open hand of generosity!
• Responsibility--being a good steward.
Proverbs 27:23-24
23 Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.
24 For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?
You ought to know where you are at financially. You need a budget. Some are so over their heads today they don’t even open bills anymore! They don’t know exactly how bad it is, and they have no real plan to take care of it.
• Sufficiency--trusting God.
Psalm 35:27
Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.
Today’s ’prosperity’ preachers have warped the word. God’s purpose for prosperity is not for you to live a lavish lifestyle. Rather, it is for you to have more so that you can wisely use that for things of eternal benefit...like building the kingdom of the God who created you, redeemed you, takes care of you, and has commissioned you to win souls until He brings you to His heavenly home in which you will live in a mansion beyond imagination forever!
God wants you to have enough to live, to give, and to save. If you find yourself not able to do all 3 of those things, something is wrong, and we can help fix that!
But where is your sufficiency? If you are trusting in your bank account or investments rather than in God, your faith is misplaced.
1 Timothy 6:17
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
Proverbs 23:5
Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
Money talks. Mine says, ’bye bye!’
Our trust should not be in our provisions...but in our Provider!
a. Turn to Jesus for financial needs.
b. Turn to Jesus for emotional needs.
Your heart may sometimes feel like a raging storm...filled with anxiety. God doesn’t want us to remain in turmoil at all times. He’s the peace speaker who calms the storm!
[explain 3 part being: body, soul, spirit -- some problems may be physical, psychological, or spiritual in nature, and each affects the others...they are all connected.] And whatever it is, God will supply all your needs!
c. Turn to Jesus for spiritual needs.
His mercies are new every morning. And if we confess our sin, He is faithful to forgive. Our greatest need is forgiveness of sins. At salvation we get just that...a once and for all - all over bath. But then daily we need a foot washing as we walk thru this sin cursed earth, and still make bad choices ourselves.
ill.--farmer walking down road w/ big sack of potatoes on his shoulder / sweat pouring / a friend pulled up and offer him a ride / "thanks, these potatoes are heavy" / he sat down but kept the potatoes on his shoulder / friend said, put those down on the floorboard / "no sir, I won’t do it...it’s enough that you’d carry me to town, I’m not gonna ask you to carry these taters!"
Jesus wants to remove it all from your shoulders! Don’t try to carry spiritual burdens that God wants to carry for you!
Perhaps no emotion is more damaging than guilt.
Jesus frees from the penalty of sin, hell.
...the power of sin, addiction.
...the presence of sin someday in heaven.
...but also from the plague of sin, which is guilt...a cancer that eats away at the inside of man.
You’ve committed some heinous sins in your past, you asked God to forgive you, and He DID, and now you need to forgive yourself!
Once you’ve asked God to forgive you it is under the blood, cast as far as east is from west. Accept the forgiveness!
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Water2Wine, pt. 2
John 2:1-7
1. The Place of the Miracle.
Cana is 9 miles NE of Nazareth
2. The Plea of His Mother.
She had come to trust Him. When we have a need in life, we should do what Mary did--turn to Jesus!
a. Turn to Jesus for financial needs.
b. Turn to Jesus for emotional needs.
c. Turn to Jesus for spiritual needs.
3. The Participation of the Men.
Jesus required some things before actually performing this miracle.
v. 5 We don’t know why Mary got involved. Perhaps she was in charge of the refreshments. If so, then it was also her name on the line, and this embarrassing occurrence could have affected her and her family.
She says to the servants, See that guy over there? Whatever he says, just do it! Don’t hesitate, don’t pass go, don’t collect 200 shekels of silver. She sounds like a very practical, make it happen kind of woman and so with a Nike ’swoosh’ she hustles them out the door saying, Just do it! Follow His instructions!
"God rarely does for us the things which only He can do until we first do what we can do."
v. 6-7 Jesus didn’t fill the pots Himself...though He certainly could have. I mean, He could have just cut out the middle man and gone straight to creating wine from nothing...He didn’t need water to make it. He wasn’t just adding wine concentrate! He wanted them to do what they could do first. THEY could not turn water into wine...but they could put water into pots!
Study the miracles of the Bible and you’ll see that in almost every case the Lord requires the people to FIRST do what they can do, before He does what only HE can do.
ill.--the resurrection of Lazarus: He had been dead for 4 days. Jesus arrived on the scene.
John 11:38-39
38 ...It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone.
Why not just speak to the stone and make it roll away? Why not just wave a hand, whisking it to the side. Wouldn’t that have been a dramatic miracle? If He can raise a man from the dead, then moving the stone is easy.
It’s the principle of human involvement and obedience. "I’m not gonna do it ALL for you!"
ill.--ever asked your spouse to get up off the couch and get you something from the kitchen? And they look at you like, "Are your legs broken?"
Want an OT example? How about Naaman the leper? God said if you will dip 7 times in the Jordan River I will heal you! It seemed silly to him...and didn’t even make since since that is a filthy river. Good thing he obeyed...for he was made whole!
How about when Jesus took a little kid’s happy meal and super sized it for 5,000+ people?
Matthew 14:17-18
17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
18 He said, Bring them hither to me.
Was He too lazy to get it Himself? Did He really even need those 7 items in order to make thousands more items?
Matthew 14:19
19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
Is this distribution really necessary? Couldn’t He just ’fling’ it into all their laps? Yes, He could. But that is something that THEY could do, so He doesn’t go to that extreme.
Martin Collins: "Jesus shows us that God is pleased to use human instruments in performing the wonders of His grace. He did nothing in changing water to wine that was unnecessary for Him to do. The servants filled the vessels and took the wine to the master of the marriage feast. There was no reason for Christ to do this kind of work for them. Instead, He did what no one else could do. This principle applies to His work in us: He does not do things for us that we can do ourselves. Further, He will not perform miracles if they would destroy industriousness or encourage laziness and irresponsibility. Miracles do not excuse us from carrying out our responsibilities."
We spoke last week about finances. Some of us may need a miracle. You may be drowning in a debtor’s prison which you built for yourself. But God cares about that as one of our needs, and He is all about meeting our needs. But does that mean He is supposed to take care of 100% of it through miraculous means? No! And not only does He not HAVE to do that...it is not His way until we show ourselves serious to doing what we can do.
"Just rescue us, Lord, and we will start tithing!" His response, "Start tithing, and we’ll see what we can do!" [start working / be a better steward / form a budget]
Don’t pray for a breakthrough until you are first obeying God in the areas you know you are supposed to be.
No wonder the Bible says that faith without works is dead!
I have no problem at all with a person praying, "Dear Lord, please help my blood sugar problem." I’m simply saying don’t be surprised if His first answer is, "Step away from the Krispy Kreme display case!"
God waits for us to do what we can do, before He steps in and does what only HE can do.
On the other hand, a person is tempted to say...
"Lord, help me meet someone, I’m lonely!" And in the meanwhile, I’ll be looking in the bars, dressing provocatively, and embellishing my online profile, because after all, the preacher said for me to do what I can do.
Not! That’s missing the point of obedience entirely.
God won’t give us more light until we walk in the light He has already given to us. Why should He advance us in this life if we aren’t living our life for Him. There’s things we know we’re supposed to do [or not do] but we haven’t taken those steps.
We even pray some spiritual prayers that we need to rethink:
"Help my church to grow." Are you going on visitation?
"I pray for my co-worker to be saved." Have you opened YOUR mouth yet to them?
"Help me in my depression, and then I’ll go to church more and serve you." No, go to church, and you’ll find help for your depression.
Proverbs 16:3
Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Filling waterpots may seem needless, but it is exactly what God wants you to do first. Fetching a little lad’s lunch may seem silly, but God says it’s the first step. Plunging into a filthy river in order to get clean may not even make good sense. But God’s ways don’t always make sense to us until after we obey. Rolling a stone may truly be difficult, but God won’t ask you do it if you can’t do it, and I hope you do, because entombed behind it is a miracle just waiting to happen. Buried there are some of your hopes and dreams that you thought were dead and gone but God wants to bring them to life if only you’ll get serious about doing what you already know you’re supposed to do!
Back to v. 5
Biblical obedience is:
Immediate.
Complete.
Spurgeon: "Delayed obedience is disobedience."
Psalm 119:60
I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.
Spurgeon continued, "Continued delay of obedience is sin...a continuous sin. If I do not obey a divine command I sin, and every moment that I continue in that condition I repeat the sin. This is a serious matter!"
We say, "I haven’t obeyed yet." And we dignify it by saying we aren’t at that level of maturity yet. Well, how do you get to that level of maturity? BY OBEYING!
ill.--it’s trash day, and you tell your son to roll the cans to the curb. Hours go by, and then you hear the truck go by, you look out the window, and they pass you by because your cans aren’t there. You ask your son, "Didn’t I tell you to take out the trash? Why didn’t you obey me?" He replies, "I’m going to obey, when I get a minute!" Is that obedience? And even if he does roll out the trash now, it’s too late.
"Once I get some bills paid off I’m gonna start tithing."
"I need to get caught up on some projects and then I’m gonna start having a daily quiet time with God in His Word."
"I have good intentions...I just haven’t obeyed YET."
Maybe God is calling you into full time Christian service. How many times have we heard the testimony from a preacher, "God dealt with me for many years before I finally surrendered." Don’t make Him hit you over the head and you hit bottom before you look up. That’s the low road. Take the high road of immediate obedience!
Immediate obedience...
Complete obedience.
"Incomplete obedience is disobedience."
Psalm 119:168
I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee.
ill.--man wrote letter to the IRS: "I can’t sleep. I cheated on my taxes. Please find enclosed $100. If I still can’t sleep I’ll send the rest!"
I am blown away as I ponder the thought of what God could do here if we ALL got the mindset to completely obey v. 5, "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it."
What would our lives be like? How would our children turn out? How many souls would be saved? Where would these flags have to move? What would become of our finances? We would never be the same!
ill.-- In 331 B.C. Alexander the Great marched towards India with his armies. He had already conquered much of the known world, and he would stop at nothing to have it all. Alexander was a strong leader, and every soldier was willing to follow him, no matter what the cost.
They encountered some difficulty upon the arrival at a certain walled city alongside a cliff. As Alexander approached the great city, he peered up towards the King who stood firm upon the stone wall and shouted: "My name is Alexander the Great, and I demand you surrender immediately!" Laughing, the King asked, "Why should we surrender to you?" He then proceeded to explain how they outnumbered Alexander’s troops, and they were more than prepared to defend the city.
In response, Alexander turned to 100 choice troops and commanded them to line up in perfect order facing the cliff. Each did so obediently in respect for their leader. Alexander then ordered them, "Forward, march." One by one they began marching toward the edge of the cliff. The first soldier stepped off the cliff and pummeled to his death, as did the second, third, fourth, all the way until the eleventh man.
When Alexander finally yelled, "HALT!", he gazed back at the King who was completely astonished by the obedience of the men-and the utter respect they had for Alexander. He surrendered immediately. The King surrendered because of the power of obedience!
"Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it."
"God rarely does for us the things which only He can do until we first do what we can do."
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/water2wine.html
